14 August 2019

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From the Principal

Our Motto: Friendly Respectful Courageous Learning

Our Commitment: With courage we learn, connecting to people and place. Striving for excellence by being curious, creative and resilient.

Our Grade 3 to 6 students had a wonderful and powerful learning experience at our Hagley Farm and Cradle Mountain camp last week. I would like to sincerely thank students, staff, parents, Hagley Farm staff, and Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife staff for making this camp such a success!

Our students excelled representing our school values with pride and their behaviour was exemplary. The feedback from the Hagley Farm staff, the, the kitchen staff, and the Principal Mrs Jeanagh Viney was that our students were one of the best groups to come through the farm educational experience. All parents can be very proud of your children with their manners, inquiry, listening skills, and powerful observations.

The Olde School experience was a particular favourite for the students and also gave staff a few tips around tightening up on discipline. It was very powerful for the students to experience rote learning, writing lines, dunce seats, noses to blackboards which everyone had to do, without catering to where students learning is at or student inquiry. Also, the punitive punishments resulted in many conversations around effectiveness of these strategies in truly changing behaviours.

Our grade 5/6 students had an incredible and very cold day up at Cradle Mountain. We were very fortunate to experience gentle snowfall on an almost wind free day. Jye Crosswell our Discovery Ranger ran a powerful educational experience for our students around the history of Cradle Mountain, the flora and fauna, cultural heritage and geographical highlights e.g. the large glacier that used to run through the area. Students also experienced making a kelp basket, similar to those which Indigenous people used to use for carrying water and food sources in Tasmania.

Other activities with the farm animals, museum, dress-ups, sheep shearing and the tractor ride were popular.

This week our bus will be transporting students up to the ENE Country Gold training sessions at St Helens. Parents are encouraged to travel with your student as this is an out-of-school activity. The following week Wednesday 21st August we are hoping to have the RSL bus, as our bus will not get back from an excursion to Launceston until 4pm. We will send a message update out via SchoolZine. Due to limited spaces on this bus, some parents may need to transport your child on the 21st August.

Have a great week everyone and stay warm!

Best regards
Rob Presswell

Grade 5/6 Recounts of Hagley Camp

Hagley Farm Tractor Ride

On the first day of camp the grade five six class had a tractor ride. When we were heading to the tractor, we were wondering if the tractor will go fast. When we got to the tractor we saw that it had a big tailer with rows of seats. We got in the trailer and headed down to the alpacas.

On the way there some of us played the game Sticks, by the time we got to the alpacas the game had finished.

We got out of the tractor then we stood in a line and got given food to feed the alpacas. Then after we fed them we got back on the tractor and then went to the other animals. We stopped at the sheep, pigs, a crop and a field of grass, after that we went back to park the tractor. We also had other tractor rides on other days. It was a fun way to see the camp.

By Charli Pou

Spotlight

On the last night of camp, it’s a Bicheno tradition that we play spotlight.

We played two rounds. I won the first round; I was hiding in a tyre and the second round was won by Isla. I was surprised that I won because when one of the teachers shone a light in my eyes I thought I was caught, but they didn’t see me. Then Finn’s mum ; Corinna saw my leg sticking out but everyone else had been caught, so I won.

Connar Baldwin

Bread Making at Hagley (Camp)

At camp we did some cottage industries. On the first day of camp one of our activities in the cottage industries was the bread making. The first thing we had to do was grind the seeds in the seed grinder to turn the seeds into flour, we added a pinch of salt for taste and to destroy bacteria. Then we put some buttermilk into the mix to make dough and made discs of dough with our hands. Then we folded the corners up to trap some air. Then we brushed the buttermilk on top of the bun and sprinkled seeds on top, then put them in the oven.

When the butter was ready from next door, we had butter with the bread for afternoon tea. It tasted crunchy and nice.

By Stephen Omenka

Sheep shearing at Hagley Farm

On Friday 9th August we were at Hagley Farm School. We were at the shearing shed watching a sheep been sheared. We were on our school camp. The farmers were showing us how to shear a sheep. After you shear the sheep you grab all the wool and you throw it on a table. I was asked to do that so I grabbed all the wool and threw it on the table but only half of it went on the table. I’m really bad at throwing. After that one of the sheep tried to escape but the farmers stopped it. It was funny.

By Ned Woolfe

Camp Recount

On Camp we as a class went to the museum at Hagley Farm School were you can pick up and play with artefacts and costumes. There was a box of dress up clothing, I dressed up in; high heels, a shirt, Mrs Bosua’s sun glasses, a hat, and a real fox stole. Mrs Bosua called me Great Aunt Bertha, I was walking around with heel pains. There was also an old bar where drinks used to be sold.

Byron Ball

Olde Classroom at Hagley

On the first day of camp, the 5/6’s visited the Olde Classroom, where we dressed up and performed a role play of school in the olden days. Mike, our tour guide, took us into a room and we dressed up like kids from the olden days. Then we walked over to the old classroom and played some old games like skipping and skittles. Suddenly the bell rang and we lined up at the door; one line of boys and one line of girls.

The door opened and the teacher was standing there. He instructed us to put our hands out and turn them over as he walked down the line. He was extremely strict (he had a cane). Some people were told to wash their hands and cut their fingernails. The teacher did this because the books that they used were very expensive and if the children had dirty hands and were using them, the teacher would get into trouble. Overall, we were clean enough to enter.

We walked in; ladies first, and sat down at tables that were wooden and had bench seats that folded down. We went through spelling words and we had to say sentences about one of the words. I said “Um”, so I had to sit at the front and wear the Dunce hat, which was for children who were not smart.

We also repeated the eight times table and recited the alphabet backwards. A few people got in trouble and Ocean had to stand at the front with his nose on a red chalk dot on the blackboard. When he turned around, his nose was red. Ned, Connor and Forest got the cane for not taking their hats off when they entered and Charli and Ocean had to write out lines on a little blackboard at the front.

After that, we practiced our cursive writing with ink and an ink pen. We dipped the pen in the ink well and copied the letters onto the booklet. If we made a mistake, we used the blotting paper. The Olde Classroom was interesting but I certainly wouldn’t want to go to school there!

Ruby Sparshott

Kelp Baskets in the Snow

On Thursday, the second day of camp, grade 5/6 went to Cradle Mountain. We saw snow and did some Aboriginal activities.

Jye, an Aboriginal park ranger, talked to us about the Aboriginal history at the mountain. He talked to us about, and showed us kelp baskets. He then handed out circular pieces of frozen kelp with eight holes around the edges. He taught us how to make a kelp basket too.

We folded the kelp in half so the holes lined up, we then pegged the edge so it stayed together; we did that four times to make four corners. When then threaded some string through the holes, adding shells as we went.

After we had tied the string off, we stuffed the baskets with newspaper, to soak up all of the excess water to help dry them. The day after camp, my kelp basket finally dried out and I took out all of the newspaper.

I really enjoyed our trip to Cradle Mountain, and I think everyone else did too.

By Sienna Patmore

Animal Feeding at Hagley Farm

On the last day of camp I got to feed the donkeys, pigs, sheep, goats and cows with grade 5/6 on Hagley Farm. This activity was one of my favourite things we did on camp, I especially enjoyed feeding the goats and sheep because when they eat their food out of your hand it felt really good for some reason. All of the animals we fed were all really friendly and they didn’t mind a pat as well as getting fed.

By Ocean Adams

Cradle Mountain

On the middle day of camp we went up to Cradle Mountain. As we were driving up it started snowing. Most people in grade 5/6 hadn’t seen snow or falling snow before so it was really exciting. When we got there we met up with a ranger called Jye Croswell. We did some activities then we had lunch and played in the snow for a while. After that we went on a bus ride to Dove Lake. Jye talked about the history of the lake and the ice glaciers. We went back to the bus and went back to Hagley.

By Hallie and Grace.

The Dairy

On camp at Hagley Farm School we visited the dairy. There were Friesian and Black Angus cows. We got to pat a soft cow. It was very interesting.

Jye Peardon

Cradle Mountain

I enjoyed going to Cradle Mountain. There was so much snow. We played in the snow, made a snowman and ate our lunch.

Baylee Hall

Candle Making

On camp we learnt how to make candles. We melted wax and poured it in to moulds. We chose different coloured dyes for our candles. It was fun making candles.

Byron Peardon

Butter Making

On camp I got to make butter. We turned butter milk into butter using an old wooden churn. It was hard work. We tasted the butter it was delicious and salty.

Harley Peardon

Camp

From the 7th until the 9th of August, Grades 3-6 went to Hagley School Farm for school camp.

On Wednesday Grade 3-6 had be at schoo, 7 o’clock to travel to Hagley School Farm. When they arrived at the farm, they met the activity guides to find out what they were doing.

The first activity for Grade 5/6 was doing the Olde Classroom role play. They dressed up in period costumes and played some games that the children played more than a hundred years ago they then participated in a classroom role play. Then they did Cottage Industries such as learning how to spin wool and how to make bread, butter and candles.

On Thursday Grade 5/6 went to Cradle Mountain. They had to get up early for an 8am departure to meet up with a ranger called Jye Croswell and learn about Aboriginal culture. They got to experience the amazing landscape of the land and fresh snow. Grade 3/4 got to stay at Hagley and do the Olde Classroom role play, feeding the animals, tractor ride and chill time.

On Friday Grades 3 - 6 packed up and had breakfast. They all got to watch a dairy demonstration and a sheep shearing demonstration. After that the grade 5/6’s did a water study and 3/4 did a sheep study. Then everyone came together and had a BBQ then left to go back to school.

By Ella and Polly.

What’s happening in our classrooms?

Visitor to Kinder

Kinders have been investigating farm animals this term as part of our inquiry. Students have shown a big interest in cows and where milk comes from. We had a very special visitor – Martha the calf. We fed Martha milk (2L) and asked lots of questions about cows:

• Do girls calves have an udder?
• Do alpacas babies drink milk? What are alpaca babies called?
• Do lambs drink milk?
• Where does Martha sleep?
• When can calves drink milk?

Prep/One

Social/Emotional:

We are learning to be fair when playing games.

We are learning to be kind to one another.

Reading:

We are learning our set 9 sounds.

We are learning our magic words by sight.

Writing:

We are learning to sound out words we don’t know independently.

Numeracy:

We are learning to tell the time to the half hour.

We are learning to share into equal groups.

Science:

We are interested in learning about different planets.

HASS:

We are interested in learning about different places around the world.

Prep One did some recount writing about their weekend

Grade 1/2

In English, we are learning to write procedures. A procedure tells the reader how to do or make something. An example of a procedural text is a recipe. We wrote procedures when we made fairy bread.

We are learning to re-read and edit our writing for spelling, punctuation and text structure.

In Maths, we are learning to recognise and represent multiplication as repeated addition, using terms such as ‘groups of’, ‘lots of’ and arrays. In an array, items are arranged in rows and columns to make counting and calculating easier

We are also developing our mathematical understanding by playing the game ‘Guess my number’. Students try to guess the number you're thinking of in the fewest number of guesses possible by asking yes/no questions, e.g. is it an odd number?

In Art, we are exploring different media to create artwork of our favourite parts and character/s from our class novel ‘James and the Giant Peach.’

Grade 3/4

Maths:

In Maths we are learning to we are learning to recall multiplication facts up to 12x12.

We are exploring strategies to assist us with solving long multiplication problems.

English:

In English we are learning to apply proofreading and editing skills in our writing.

We are learning to independently write a procedure text explaining how to make/do/play something.

We also had a great time on camp. Enjoy some of our photos in the following gallery

Grade 5/6

It’s been a busy for weeks; addition to a wonderful school camp, choir excursion and this week’s chess excursion; Grade 5/6 have also been very busy in class:

In English

Reading :- We have begun our new class novel; Holes by Louis Sachar.

In the text, we have been learning how reader’s use their prior knowledge and connections to the real world and other texts to make inferences about a character, setting or plot development

Writing :- We have been learning to recognise and use both objective and subjective language. We have been writing personal and formal recounts using objective and subjective language

In Maths

We have been studying Measurement. We have been learning to calculate the area and perimeter of irregular 2 dimensional shapes and we have been learning to calculate the surface area of a 3 dimensional shape

In HASS

We have been learning about the Wavehill Walkout and how an individual or group of people can contribute to, or bring about change in society.

In Science

We have been investigating the movement of the Earth and Moon around the sun.

Indonesian

Kinder are learning about the names of the body parts and continuing with App 4 and 5 of the ELLA program.

Prep/1 are learning to ask "How many?" and to reply with the relevant number for up to 10 items.

The 1/2 class are learning to ask "How many?" and to reply with the relevant number for up to 20 items.

Grade 3/4 are learning how to say "I want to buy...." and to create a sentence stating what it is they want to buy and how many they would like to buy.

Grade 5/6 are learning how to ask "How much is it?" and the culture of bargaining.

KEON

KEON made a bottle stopper curtain of plastic bottle lids for the school disco out of plastic lids that students collected from home, as well as from local cafes and the bakery.

Before making the curtain of lids, we discussed how plastic lids cannot go into recycling as it clogs the machines. People need to separately put it into the bin (or upcycle it!).

The Lid Sculpture featured in the main doorway into the hall on the night of the fabulous Bicheno Primary School Disco and looked fantastic!

In the KEON meeting we also talked about how almost all the of the plastic ever made still exists, either as a micro-plastic or in a larger form and how only one out of every ten pieces of plastic is recycled. The great Pacific Garbage Patch is now almost the size of QLD, which is about 25 times the size of Tasmania, while about 90% of seabirds and most have plastic in their bellies. Half of all the plastic made in the world is for single use (eg plastic bags, coffee cups, disposable water bottles, take away and other packaging). Unless something happens, by the time KEON kids are in their 30’s there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.

BUT – many countries have either already banned or pledged a ban on singles use plastic, for example France, India, Canada. In Kenya anyone caught using a plastic bag faces up to 4 years in jail! In Australia, only Hobart has pledged a ban on single use plastic.

Many KEON members reported seeing birds eating plastic and how there is plastic all around us, some single use and others more permanent, such as furniture. There was good news about Lego bringing out new sustainable plastic made from plant-based material. Also, Adidas are now upcycling marine plastic trash into their sportswear.

We spoke of the need to snip the ring in milk bottles, so animals don’t get it caught on them. We also remembered that coffee cups cannot go into recycling, but scrunched aluminium can.

We remembered our R’s, that is reduce, re-use, recycle, refuse, remember. With reduce being our favourite!

There were tips for saving paper, including using electronic devices for notes, as well as concern for the wildlife with oil and other pollutants in the ocean.

Another handy bit of news was how electrical items can now be recycled at the Bicheno tip. But we all wondered what to do with batteries.

A great day for sharing!

Book Week Reminder

Important dates

LiL calendar

School Association Update: Trivia Night

We have set-up an email address for the association to enable parents and community members to get in touch with us more easily.

The address is BichenoPSA@gmail.com

Footy Margin Tickets

Round 19 was Deb Gardner
Round 20 winner was Debbie Cirkel

Information for parents

A friendly reminder that the school has a duty of care for student from 8:15am, extending to 3:15pm. Students on the school grounds outside of these operating hours must be under parental supervision. The school toilets and classrooms are closed at 2:45pm. There are public toilets located next to Little Penguins Child Centre.

Rob Presswell

School Information

Phone: 63751222
Email: bicheno.primary@education.tas.gov.au
Principal: Robert Presswell
School Business Manager: Sandra Silberberg

Teachers

Kinder and LiL: Eliza Spykers
Prep/One: Bronti Cooke and Bron Pierce
Grade 1/2: Bruce Campbell and Jen Sliskovic
Grade 3/4: Sam Kelly
Grade 5/6: Jill Bosua
Support Teacher: Bron Pierce

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